WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- On Saturday morning, thousands of volunteers headed to hundreds of sites across southeast Wisconsin as part of the annual Milwaukee Riverkeeper Spring Cleanup.

The goal is to remove plastic, litter and other trash from rivers and green spaces.

Last year, volunteers were able to collect and remove more than 100,000 pounds of trash in just a few hours.

"We want to take care of our community and leave it better for our kids and generations to come so it's good we're out here," said volunteer Lindsay Stevens, who was out along the Menomonee River Parkway. 

Stevens carried a large black trash bag filled with old shoes, golf balls, plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

Many others who were out in the same area had similar bags.

"It makes me very, very sad," said eight-year-old Charlie Doerfer when asked about the amount of trash along the river. 

Doerfer came to help out with his dad, Karl, who told CBS 58 it was important for them to do their part.

"No one can pick it all up on their own but together, we're making a huge impact, lots of stuff coming out of the woodwork and it's nice to see the community coming together for this," Karl Doerfer said. 

This year, the event aimed to go bigger than ever before and even attempt to break a world record for the most volunteers participating in a multiple site, one-day river clean up -- a record currently set last March in the United Kingdom on the River Taff.

"It's a great thing to be in the record book for," Doerfer said. "Hopefully someone would try to beat it next year, right?"

While we don't know yet if the record was set, volunteers said it's worth it no matter what to clean up the area and make it a better place.